


33

by Laeana



Series: built our house on glory (2020 podium) [3]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: A little bit of angst, Airplanes, Coincidences, Comfort, Dorks in Love, Drinking & Talking, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Hungary 2020, Love Confessions, M/M, Podium, luck, monaco, or something alike, shutdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:21:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25489165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laeana/pseuds/Laeana
Summary: 33rd podium, 33 points, number 33.Number 33, twice as much luck. With that many 3 in his stats, he can only have his best days ahead of him, right?
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Series: built our house on glory (2020 podium) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833505
Comments: 4
Kudos: 86





	33

33rd podium, 33 points, number 33.

Max wants to laugh softly at the coincidence but he is already quite satisfied to be on the podium and in second position. It started off badly at first but eventually… in the end everything went better than he thought.

He thinks about a lot of things as the champagne flows over him. Sandwiched between two Mercedes drivers and he tries to hide his disappointment about it. He really doesn't want to think about it, he doesn't want to waste his moment just yet.

His lucky number; the 3.

That Daniel had taken care to choose before him.

Number 33, twice as much luck. With that many 3 in his stats, he can only have his best days ahead of him, right?

He is daydreaming. His feelings slowly in his chest are shifting. The heat in his stomach. After thanking his engineers, he changes. His phone vibrates as he buttoned his pants.

He quickly retrieves it, adjusting a cap over his messy hair. A message from Daniel.

**Do you think you can take me back to Monaco?**

He blinks several times when he sees the message. Try to control the smile that comes to his cheeks. He sits down again to take a deep breath. He needs to calm down.

He and Daniel have had such a weird relationship lately. Nothing can be the same as when they were teammates, he knows that, but last year they have maintained contact quite well. The shutdown made everything a little more distorted. He almost feared the start of this year.

Messages, calls were too rare while he was in Monaco and Daniel in Australia, he guesses the older one had other things to do. Rather than take care of him… 

He doesn't deny that-

That he's a little bit in love with him. It's hard to deny that and Daniel is too appreciative. Too good to him for him not to fall in love but it has been going on too long for him to have any hope.

Max, obviously, jumps at the chance to spend time with his former teammate.

A dazzling smile that greets him. After getting on the plane, taking the photo, a comfortable silence settles between them. Daniel, arriving, took off his cap with a supple movement; he hasn't put it back since.

“Hey, Max ?”

He simply hums at the call, staring out the outer window.

“I wanted to tell you… well done for your podium. I hadn't have the chance yet but … it was a great race.”

Is it him or Daniel seems almost embarrassed? He glances at him, watches him run a hand through his curls, and suddenly he wants to do the same. He shakes his head because it's not a good idea but … 

He doesn't want to play on it. He contents himself with offering a small smile to the aussie.

“Thanks, Dan.”

He allows himself for a moment where he lets his gaze wander over the other driver (secretly buying his new merch can't hurt him?). None of his tattoos are visible except the rose on his hand. 

“Maxy?”

He raises his head. The nickname is familiar and yet he used to hate it sometimes. Hearing it again ignites a little spark in him.

“Yes ?”

“We'll probably take a shared car to Monaco, so would you like to come and have a drink at my place ? So we celebrate your podium properly ?”

He will probably be tired from the weekend of racing and the ride but seeing Daniel's face, biting his lip, his brown eyes filled with an emotion he can't quite grasp, he can’t bring himself to refuse.

“Yeah, sure, why not. It's been a while. You haven't come back to your apartment since the GP restart, have you ?”

Daniel closes his eyes.

“...I forgot this detail.”

“Let's go to my place instead ?”

Max didn’t know himself to be so easygoing, nor did he know he was so enterprising. The effect the aussie has on him … 

“Yeah, definitely, yeah.”

33rd podium, 33 points, number 33.

So many 3.

And you know, he never would've thought he was so superstitious but there's something about that number. And maybe, maybe he did well to choose 33, maybe today is really his lucky day, who knows ?

That Daniel was the one who chose the 3 … another coincidence and he almost laugh up his sleeve. Honestly, at this point, he's almost making fun of himself for having so much hope because, after all, what makes today so different from the previous two years ?

And then after there's-

There's that sparkle in his former teammate's eyes, a sparkle he still can't decipher. A glow that makes his heart beat faster in his chest. He always thought that Daniel had beautiful eyes. That his brown took shades of gold depending on the lighting. That it was so easy to dive in, to get lost in it.

He will never be able to say how much the older one did for him. He loves him so much, that's the truth. He loves him so much and he likes to tell himself that it is shared, he likes to tell himself that he knows sides of him that no one else knows, that he is special.

It's always like that.

In his apartment, they sit on the terrace to enjoy the view they know too well but which, in the end, has not changed. The same view, the same splendor, the same horizon.

Max likes to think of this place as his home. It's just so different from other places he's been to. A little paradise of his own. Familiar. Comfortable. And having Daniel Ricciardo in front of him is definitely not for something-

“To your podium”, smiles the man who occupies his thoughts by clinking glasses.

He takes a sip of beer. He still doesn’t explain the silence that falls between them. This happened several times on their drive, with the older one pausing, as if he had too much to think about. Once again, here he is, his eyes fixed on the scenery, beautiful. He would like to have that vision every day. Keep it with him a little longer. But for his own good, he hangs a jovial smile on his lips.

“Dan.”

No reaction.

“Daniel. Daniel Ricciardo ?”

At the sound of his full name, the other pilot finally regain consciousness and observes him, intrigued. Max swallows his desire to pout.

“Where did you go? You know we didn't have to celebrate if you were tired. We could have postponed that until tomorrow or …”

Daniel shakes his head swiftly.

“No no. Sorry, it was silly of me to worry about this stuff …”

He raises an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair, at ease. The air is warm, the temperature is almost starting to be pleasant. Less hot, less suffocating. A light breeze around them.

“Maybe I can help you ? Well, if you want to talk to me about it.”

“I was just thinking about the shutdown. All of this … it made me think about a lot.”

“Oh, Daniel Ricciardo who actually think ? Prick me, I must be dreaming.”

His mockery still draws a smirk from his interlocutor. It’s better to be a step ahead.

“I was a little further away, so I had time to think. About my situation and everything and … well you must have seen it. Change of contract and all.”

Mclaren. Of course he saw it. Because it was him who had to call Lando to see how he was and it was only after the third call that the youngest finally decided to open up and reveal his true feelings about it.

“But that's not what is at the center of my concerns. It's more ... my relationships.”

Max ticks. Because, hey, he's not sure he wants to hear this conversation. But he's not a coward, and Daniel has been there so many times for him that he doesn't want to sneaks off.

“Oh, have you made up your mind to have a new girlfriend ? I have to say-”

“About our relationship, Max.”

This time he freezes in his chair and his smile slowly slides to reveal his dismay. He doesn't dare look at Daniel, he can't look at him, but his gaze always seems to fall on him.

No smile on his features either, he's leaning on his elbows, beer in one hand, looking thoughtful, and, you know what, that terrifies him.

“...that is to say ?”

“You can't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about.”

“Obviously.”

He lets out a shaky breath.

“But it's been a long time. It was only once, we never talked about it again, I didn't think it mattered to you.”

Once, only once. Whispers, promises, touches, burning kisses, Daniel's hands on him, he brushes his tattoos with his fingertips and damn they shouldn't, they just crashed into each other hours ago and couldn't finish their race and yet here they are-

“Max, please look up. My lion, please.”

A flow of emotions that he has repressed until then. Because it hurt instantly and then it pretty much healed. He told himself he could already be happy with what he had and that time would completely heal his injury. That he would be fine. 

And here he is, over a year later, secretly pining, but he's fine. He didn't lie, he's fine. He doesn't expect to get more, to get what he wanted-

“Max.”

It's firm. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t hear Daniel approach him and crouch down beside him.

“It’s alright, okay? Everything is fine.”

“I … I don't know what to say, Daniel”, he mumbles, unsure of his own words, afraid that one of them will betray his confusion.

“You don't need, my lion, I understand. I understand. I see it in your eyes.”

In his eyes ? Max doesn't know what he's talking about. He feels completely lost, drifting in the sea and the lifebelt comes in the form of a hand resting on his cheek.

Daniel's lips on his are as soft as he remembered it and he doesn't have time to blend into the kiss as the Australian already pulls back, looking him straight in the eyes.

“I love you too. You don't have to say it, I know it.”

“But that time in Baku-”

“Honestly ? I thought you wanted to forget about it.”

“It's ME who thought you wanted to forget about it !”

“Excuse me ? Who hasn't responded to any of the messages I sent them after ?”

“And who, as I paid carefully a visit to see him, was still busy for a yes or no ? Walk the dog, really Daniel ? You don't have a dog !”

They shut up each other, almost out of breath. And in this little moment of calm, they can't help but burst out laughing. It's ridiculous, they're ridiculous, but in a way it's always been that way with them, between them. 

And you know what, they wouldn't change for anything in the world.

And it feels good to get those words out of his chest, after all these years of locking them in there.

“Damn, I love you, Max, really. You don't have to doubt it.”

“Good thing, as a first step as an official boyfriend, could you maybe give me the sweatshirt you're wearing ?”

Choked by his forelock, Daniel lets out an offended laugh but ends up removing his top anyway to throw it at Max.

“You really are a little piece of shit.”

He shrugs, pulls on the sweatshirt, and doesn't miss the appreciative glow that is reflected in the older man's eyes. Pure lust.

“But I love you ?”

33rd podium, 33 points, number 33.

And the look that Daniel has as he observes him, the glow he never understood. This radiance which has always been love, he now knows. He feels this relationship kindling a fire deep inside him, because he has everything he ever wanted.

Unrealistic. There are a lot of things he could do right now, but enjoying his Aussie's embrace definitely seems like the best thing to do. 

33rd podium, 33 points, number 33.

Okay.

Maybe today was really his lucky day.

**Author's Note:**

> yes, you can leave me drowning in my fangirl ... i didn't found this piece of writing particulary well-written, in fact i didn't like the end, but writing this os was pretty fun, i wrote it in one go ... the coincidence was to big, it made me wanting to write about it, i hope you enjoyed it !
> 
> tumblr : laeana


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